Before we left for Peru family joked how long it would take for me to post about the trip... My goal was to get it done within the first week. Obviously, very unrealistic. So here is to finally posting. I am going to post each city separately, since Trujillo alone has become a massive post. Enjoy!
Trujillo
After 6+ months of planning the day finally arrived. We got into a taxi and headed to JFK to fly to Peru!! We flew to Lima where we had a 6 hour layover before flying to Trujillo. While in Lima one of Wes' old companions came to visit us.
Even though it felt like we spent forever in the airport, we finally made it to Trujillo! I always love getting off planes like that!
We successfully made it to the hotel which was in the main plaza of Trujillo. The plaza was amazing. The colors of all the buildings were so vibrant and beautiful!
Picture look familiar?...now he had a different type of companion with him!
Look at that color!!
Shortly after arriving we wandered to the Mendoza's home (family Wes got very close to). I was extremely impressed with Wes' ability to remember where everything was in the city. They took us to the restaurant Rocky's. Apparently it was one of the few approved places Wes was allowed to eat at on his mission. He was very excited for the food.
Our first full day in Trujillo was packed full of amazing awe inspiring ruins. We started at Huacas de le Luna e Sol. They were two temples built by the Moche people which were some of the oldest people in Peru. They were two temples named after the sun and moon, which we learned was very incorrect because the Moche people didn't worship the sun or moon. They were given their name because of the temples in Mexico. The sun temple is still completely covered in sand but the moon temple is absolutely amazing. The Moche people had a tradition of rebuilding their temple every 8 (I think it was 8) years, but in order to respect the previous generations they just built their temple on top of the old temple. They took a lot of precautions to preserve the older temple before building on top of it. Because of this tradition the walls and colors were shockingly preserved. Enjoy what I find to be amazing pictures!!
Wes' first encounter with his favorite hairless dogs. Their internal temperature is so high that they have no hair. They used to be very important and used as heaters for kings and noblemen.
That is the still untouched Huaca de Sol. They believe that it will be a more extravagant temple then the Huaca de Luna, but it has yet to be uncovered.
Here you can see the two different generations. The lower half built on top of the upper wall. They are trying to uncover the temple layer by layer. You can see how the generations developed, but still had similar features.
This is the older generations God.
This is the newer generations God. See how it is adapted but still different than the one above?
Behind us is the Huaca de Sol and in between is what would've been the city center. They have begun excavations there. They want to uncover the city before starting on the other temple.
So much is being uncovered everyday. Wes' said the site look very different from when he visited as a missionary. Our guide said it'll continue to change every year as more is uncovered.
An example of another god, even older than the previous two.
Temples were often built at the base of mountains because the people worshipped the mountain. They believed it protected them.
This was the entrance to the temple. The scaffolding is to protect the temple from the winds and rain.
Each layer had a specific meaning and explanation.
Beautiful isn't it?? It was extremely intricate and told various stories.
This was our awesome tour guide. She was so cute!
Once we rehydrated we continued our site seeing. We headed to Chan Chan. Chan Chan was built by the Chimu people. The Chimu were younger than the Moche. The Moche would've been completely gone and their city and temples covered by the time the Chimu rose to power. Very similarily to the Moche people, the Chimu respected their ancestors and previous generations of power. Unlike the Moche, the Chimu built near the old temples and palaces instead of on top of. Chan Chan spans a massive amount of space outside of Truijillo. There were 9 major palaces that were built over the Chimu time. There is really only one that has been fully excavated and open for tourists. It is the youngest of the 9 and most likely the smallest. Like the Huacas de Luna y Sol there is still so much to be uncovered. Due to the closeness of Chan Chan to the ocean the site isn't as well preserved, especially when it comes to the colors of the walls, but the site was still amazing.
This is the entrance. Chan Chan is a ton of massive sand buildings. The size was amazing.
This was the main entrance to the palace and would've been where the citizens came to see their King.
The Chimu people were fishers. They depended heavily on pelicans (which are being depicted here) to show them where fish were. The sea, fish, pelicans, and nets are the main decoration for the Chan Chan temple.
Fish in the stream with pelicans below.
Our guide said during the time of the Chimu these walls would've been covered in vibrant colors.
Fishing net designs with some type of alter.
What is left of tons of meeting rooms.
This is a beautiful reservoir of water in the middle of the palace. It was amazing. The Chimu had some type of irrigation system to bring water to this area so they didn't have to travel back and forth from the ocean. In their time it would've been completely filled with water.
Our tour guide trekking along.
Wes struggles with heights.
The kings grave. He would've been buried with 100's of wives and concubines.
The Chimu buried their dead in this funny sitting position. The king was buried with all types of money and fine things around him to improve his life in the other world.
A room that would've been used for meetings. Each nook would've held some type of idol for their god's but also could've been where the different men sat during important meetings with the king.
Our guide was showing us the amazing acoustics of the room. No matter where you speak in the room it is amplified so all can hear clearly. I'm still so amazed with these ancient civilizations.
Our awesome guide. I wish he had smiled bigger. Most of his teeth were these engraved pieces of metal. They all had designs on them. It was crazy.
This hilarious guy dressed up and took pictures with you all dressed up. He kept ignoring us and it was too hot to wait to take our own pictures. So we moved on.
We finished our day and our adventures in Trujillo with a trip to the beach! We went to Huanchaco which was this cute little coast town. We sipped some cold Inca Cola's (such a good drink) and put our feet in the Pacific Ocean once again.
Wes loved all these mountain people on the beach.
These pelicans shocked me with how massive they were!!
Finally feeling better with some Inca Cola
I loved these boats.
Wes loved this puppy....
The beach was a tad rocky for my taste but I enjoyed the Pacific Ocean again.
We drove back to Trujillo in Peru's crazy little taxis in Peru's crazy traffic. We ended our fun filled night with the Mendoza's again. We went to get some deliciously filled yucca.
Our last day in Trujillo was a Sunday. We went to the little town of Salaverry where Wes spent a lot of time in. We went to church there and had fun talking with the families Wes got close to.
Look how cute the church is! The funny thing is that directly opposite of the LDS church is this Catholic church. It was like the two churches battling off.
Hilarious little taxis.
Poor stranded boat.
When we got back from Salaverry we quickly changed and ran to the most intense market ever. I was so overwhelmed! I wanted everything!
The view out of our window.
Do you like our pile of trail mix? It kept us well fed and healthy the whole trip. Thank you Costco.
Can you see how overwhelmed I was??
After managing the market we went to the Mendoza's for the last time. Sister Mendoza made the most wonderful homemade meal. It was one of my favorite Peruvian dishes, and one of the few things I could say.
We were so happy to see so much of the Mendoza's while in Trujillo. After dinner we went back to the hotel and waited to catch our overnight bus up to Huaraz. Trujillo was such a fun and beautiful city. I loved the atmosphere and all the colors. It was sad to leave, but we still had so much of Peru to see!
